Court rules on Bubka appeal case

On Wednesday, a Tokyo court rejected an appeal by publisher Core Magazine, which should put an end to a case stretching back six years ago. In July 2002, the publisher released a special issue of its magazine Bubka, featuring unauthorized photos of several female idols from their childhood, including pictures taken of them near their schools and homes. A class action suit was filed against Core Magazine, claiming invasion of privacy and violation of rights of publicity. The suit had 14 plaintiffs, including Norika Fujiwara, Kyoko Fukada, and a few Hello! Project idols such as Natsumi Abe.

The first trial in the case found Core Magazine guilty of invasion of privacy, and the publisher was fined more than 5 million yen. A second trial over the celebrities’ rights of publicity finished in 2006 and brought the total fines to roughly 8.5 million yen.

Core Magazine had appealed the case, but their appeal was denied with Wednesday’s decision.